This month’s MAP post offers a bunch of good song as it has done monthly for more than one year. Always with the support and permission of the artists, MAP has helped new bands to be heard worldwide and all the participating blogs can say that bands have been very grateful and proud to see their music available across the planet. Unfortunately, the copyright police knows no boundaries and Bloggers, the blog publishing tool owned by Google, has shut down The Pop Cop, the blog maintained by Jason, the man who started MAP and has dedicated countless of hours to it. The full story is posted here. Jason is seeking access to the blog so he can change platforms and keep his blog and the MAP going. You can help by contacting support@blogger.com and asking that they review this case and reinstate The Pop Cop.
While you show your support, enjoy this month’s selections. From Finland we have selected Captain Cougar, a band that has put together a beautiful concept album.
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Tampere’s The Props cannot deny that they grew up during the nineties, listening to Dinosaur Jr, Teenage Fanclub and The Posies, so in their new album Mt. Karma they turn the guitars to 11 and throw some pop melodies. Even though the influences might be very clear, the album includes a few good songs that make justice to the genre. Listen to We Need a Revelation after the break. »»
Alternative rockers band Disco Ensemble are releasing their fourth album on 26 May, but they already have a second single to download for free. If you have the patience of going through the band’s Facebook page (and a few other webpages after that), you will be able to download the song Protector, or alternatively you listen to the song after the break. With this new song, the band seems to embrace some more popular formulas rather then their original post-hardcore. The album The Island of Disco Ensemble will be available in multiple formats, including a 50-page companion book. By the way, guitarist Jussi Ylikoski was chosen the Finnish guitarist on a poll conducted by public radio station YleX. »»
This month’s MAP post welcomes a fellow blogger from Switzerland that presents an indie trio based in Zurich. Representing Finland this month, we find the catchy pop metal sounds of Kärtsy, who has put aside cult metal band Waltari to release his first solo album next month. It is another great month of music, but this time we cannot say this is the world’s greatest mixtape. That honor goes to the charity album project by Amnesty International and Buffet Libre, “PEACE” that offers 180 unreleased songs from 56 countries for a donation of five euros (or more). That would be money well invested. Remember that you can download all the MAP songs at once with the link at the bottom of the post.
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Sometimes a great song do not need epic arrangements or an intricate composition, but just a good melody can do the trick. This is exactly what Kaskas achieves with a soft and groovy pop: a great simple song. This indie quartet from Helsinki is soon releasing their first album with the title of In the Meantime, and you can download it for free from their MySpace page come 29 April. But in the meantime, you can hear after the break one song off it. According to what we have been able to hear of the album, it promises to be a very enjoyable effort. Do not miss it. »»
